This invention relates to the field of broadcast audio. More particularly, a guide for broadcast audio programming is provided, and methods of using an audio program guide to facilitate automated recording of broadcast audio.
It is natural for people to want to listen to music, talk shows and other audio programs that they enjoy. However, few people can continuously monitor audio broadcasts for programs that they want to listen to or record for later listening, and don't know when they will be broadcast again. Or, they may hear a program that they would like to listen to again or even purchase, but cannot easily identify the program because they missed an announcement of the title.
In particular, there is little assistance offered to help one find when a particular song or other audio program will be broadcast or to identify a program within a broadcast. Generally, people just choose a station and listen to whatever is played, or else flip among stations or channels until they find something they want to listen to.
Even when something that a person likes is played, he or she usually does not know ahead of time that it will be played, and therefore cannot activate a recording device in time to record the program. The person may not know the name of the program or the artist that created a particular song, or may not recognize it until after it begins.
If someone were to record a broadcast over a period of time, he or she would then have to review the entire recording to identify each program or song and determine if it should be saved. Even then, the listener is unlikely to be able to make a full recording of a desired program—a recording that catches the entire program but none of the preceding or following programs or commercials. Invariably, the beginning or end will be cut off, will be talked over, or a portion of an adjacent program will be captured in the recording.
Also, reception of radio and other audio broadcasts often suffers from interference, noise, signal level fluctuations, broadcast problems and other errors. If a desired program is recorded with a defect, the listener must attempt to record the program again and hope that the next recording is better.
Because there is no standard method of rating the quality of an audio recording, without listening to multiple recordings one generally cannot tell which is likely to be better.
Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus for automatically recording audio programs that accurately and separately captures each program, so that individual programs can be retained or discarded. There is also a need for an audio program guide to identify audio programs and when they will be, or were, broadcast. Further, there is a need for improving the quality of an audio recording to remove defects or errors. Yet further, there is a need for a system or method for rating the quality of a recorded audio broadcast.